Top News

Why Google Just Made iPhone King: Ads — By releasing new versions of Google Maps and Gmail for iOS this month, Google helped make the iPhone the best mobile phone on the planet. Why is Google, the owner of Android and Motorola, helping its ostensible rival? — The answer boils down to advertising.

How Google's Maps App for iPhone Hurts Nokia — Apple isn't the only company that should feel nervous about Google's release of a new maps app for the iPhone. Nokia may have lost whatever chance it had to get iPhone owners hooked on its mapping service. — Just hours after the Google Maps app …

Why Google Maps Is Better Than Apple Maps — There's a simple answer: people. — For all of Google's reputation as a data-data-data company, the company's famed mapping product, which arrived on iOS early this morning, is good for a different reason: people.

Combating accidental clicks in mobile ads — Ads on smartphones are effective, but many of us have at some point clicked on an ad by accident, which ultimately is a bad experience for the user, the publisher, and the advertiser who pays for clicks that may not be valuable.

US, UK and Canada refuse to sign UN internet treaty — The UN's communication treaty will not be ratified by the US, UK or Canada — The US, UK and Canada say they will not sign an international communications treaty under discussion in Dubai. — The three countries had objected to calls …

Apple kicks off iPhone 5 sales in China — Apple has begun sales of the iPhone 5 in China, its second-largest market. Doors opened at official retail stores at 8am, though the company's reserve-and-pick-up system dampened launch crowds. — A rare Beijing snowstorm didn't help matters …

Web Discussions: Flat by Design — It's been six years since I wrote Discussions: Flat or Threaded? and, despite a bunch of evolution on the web since then, my opinion on this has not fundamentally changed. — If anything, my opinion has strengthened based on the observed data …

The Web We Lost — The tech industry and its press have treated the rise of billion-scale social networks and ubiquitous smartphone apps as an unadulterated win for regular people, a triumph of usability and empowerment. They seldom talk about what we've lost along the way in this transition …

Massive bank cyberattack planned — Security firm McAfee on Thursday released a report warning that a massive cyberattack on 30 U.S. banks has been planned, with the goal of stealing millions of dollars from consumers' bank accounts. — McAfee's research upheld an October report from RSA …

T-Mobile completes iPhone-friendly upgrade in 23 cities — T-Mobile on Thursday officially activated its overhauled HSPA+ systems in five more regions of the country, including the greater Chicago area, bringing it that much closer to fielding a nationwide network that can fully support Apple's iPhone.